Gemma Vega
Gemma Addison Braddock (nee Vega; born August 12, 1971) is an American former professional wrestler, trainer, and promoter. She is best known for her time in the now-defunct Millenium Wrestling Federation where she became a five-time MWF Women's Champion and a two-time MWF Tag Team Champion. Since 2008, she has been a trainer at Madam Vega's Wrestling School for Girls. In 2013, she and her husband, Clay Braddock, became bookers and writers for EXODUS Pro. Early Life Vega was raised in Chicago's Albany Park neighborhood, the youngest of three children raised by Selena Vega, a single mother who was employed as a physical therapist at Rush University Medical Center. She is of Spanish and Portuguese ancestry through her mother. Her older siblings are Tony and fellow wrestler Marie (born 1963). As both of them were amateur wrestlers at one time, Vega counts them as "major influences" on her. Vega was highly competitive in track and field, making it as far as trials for the 1988 Summer Olympics. By this time, she was already backyard wrestling in her hometown, which she says didn't sit well with her mother. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1989 and subsequently turned down an athletic scholarship to Chicago State University in order to pursue wrestling. Professional Wrestling Career Early Career (1987 - 1991) At age sixteen, along with other teenagers and young adults from her neighborhood, Vega became a fixture in backyard wrestling shows on Chicago's North Side under the name Gigi Gold. Despite her lack of formal training, she also began working dates for a local promotion called Midwest Mayhem Wrestling (MWW), which then then-seventeen-year-old Vega did under the guise of being eighteen. She cites the "underground" nature of the small promotion as the reason why she was able to get away with it. It wasn't until she graduated from high school that the promoters became aware of her true age. In July 1989, Vega's sister moved back to the United States after an untimely knee injury forced her into early retirement. She began formal training under Marie and her boyfriend, fellow wrestler Sean Grey. She re-debuted in May 1990, now using her real name as her ring name. She wrestled primarily on the Midwest independent circuit in the time that followed. In late 1990, she met Clay Braddock at a show put on by St. Louis-based Gateway Championship Wrestling (GCW), and the two began dating soon afterward. Braddock had already signed a developmental contract with worldwide promotion Millenium Wrestling Federation and was finishing up his prior commitments when he met Vega. Millenium Wrestling Federation (1992 - 2007) New England Wrestling (1992 - 1994) Vega signed with Boston-based Millenium Wrestling Federation in January 1992 and subsequently moved to the city to compete in the promotion's "farm territory", New England Wrestling (NEW). She debuted in March 1992 and went on to hold the NEW Women's Championship twice. She was brought up to the main roster in April 1994, shortly before marrying Braddock. The Sensational Six (1994 - 1996) Vega debuted on the April 12 episode of Overdrive, cementing herself as a face after confronting then-Women's Champion Andromeda following a match. The storyline eventually led to a title match between the two the following month at Death Sentence, where Andromeda retained after hitting Vega with a steel chair. A rematch was booked for the May 10 episode of Overdrive, which ended in a no-contest. She spent the rest of the year feuding with Andromeda, Robyn Greene, Katrina Lee, Stevie Sellers, and Mallory Shay. Dubbed "The Sensational Six" by fans and commentators, they were largely credited with ushering in a boom period for the women of the MWF and are recognized by many as the "founding mothers" of the company's women's division. It's said that their feuds and matches with one another "put more eyes on the product". They were placed in a much-hyped Six-Pack Challenge at Night of Immortals IX, where Vega won the championship for the first time. After a seven-month reign, she dropped the title to Lee in November at Full Metal Jacket. She received a rematch the following month at Last Stand but was unsuccessful in regaining the title. Vega the entered a brutal feud with Sellers, which is now regarded as one of the more physical feuds in mainstream North American women's wrestling. Hallmarks of the conflict included frequent backstage fights and confrontations on Overdrive. The feud was capped off with a Steel Cage match Point Of No Return in March, where Vega won. Immediately thereafter, she went on maternity leave. Team XX (1998 - 2000) Vega made a surprise return at Regality Rules, saving Shay from being jumped by Greene and Sellers. The two teams engaged in a short feud that lasted until Blackout the following month, where Vega and Shay were victorious in a tag team match. Now calling themselves Team XX, they proclaimed on the March 3 episode of Overdrive that they intended to become the first women's team to win the MWF Tag Team Championships. After failing in their first attempt against the then-titleholders, Team XX captured the titles at Night of Immortals XII for the first time. Women's Champion (2001 - 2007) After the Team XX break-up and feud, Vega continued to perform as a face. She went on to win the Women's Championship four additional times, breaking the record with her fifth. In mid-2004, she became one of the trainers at New England Wrestling, and worked with the majority of the women's trainees that came into the school. Vega was the final Women's Champion at the time of the MWF's closure at Critical Mass in September 2007. EXODUS Pro (2008 - 2011; 2013 - present) Vega and her husband moved to Detroit in early 2008, and she made it known that she intended to finish her career there. The two made their debut for EXODUS Pro in October of that same year, and she first managed him to his first reign as EXODUS Pro Heavyweight Champion before winning her first EXODUS Pro Renaissance Championship. They each held the titles twice before retiring following the promotion's annual end of the year show, Revelations, in December 2011. In April 2013, the two returned to the promotion in a non-wrestling capacity, having been brought on board to write angles and book shows. Trainer (2008 - present) Upon moving to Detroit, Vega became a trainer at her sister's lauded Madam Vega's Wrestling School for Girls. She had a hands-on role in training her nieces, Mia Marie Vega, Cassidy Vega, and Corrina Grey. Personal Life Vega married Clay Braddock in 1994 after four years of dating. They lived in Boston until February 2008 and currently reside in Detroit's Indian Village neighborhood. They have two sons, twins Gage and Gavin (born 1997), who are both signed to developmental contracts with Elite Answers Wrestling. She is good friends with Michele Deadly, Kyle Lewis, Jade Steel, Miss Manami, and Jackie Cruz. In Wrestling * Finishing Moves ** Beauty Killer (Fireman's carry bulldog) ** Done & Dusted (Inverted suplex stunner) -- adopted from Clay Braddock ** Shock Treatment (Snap chokeslam) * Signature Moves ** Belly-to-back suplex ** Cobra clutch slam ** Double-knee facebreaker to a rope-hung opponent ** Double-underhook mat slam ** Forearm smash ** Hammerlock guillotine choke ** Headlock driver ** Hotshot ** Inverted overdrive ** Lifting reverse STO ** Multiple mule kicks to the chest of an opponent seated in the corner -- adopted from Clay Braddock ** Senton bomb ** Single-arm DDT ** Sitout suplex slam ** Sliding clothesline ** Spinning headlock elbow drop ** Swinging neckbreaker * Wrestlers Managed ** Clay Braddock * Wrestlers Trained ** Mia Marie Vega ** Cassidy Vega ** Corrina Grey ** Sydney St. Clair ** Ricki Rivers ** Yasmeen Namir * Entrance Themes ** "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" by Janet Jackson (1990 - 1991) ** "Baby-Baby-Baby" by TLC (1992) ** "Queen of the Night" by Whitney Houston (1993 - 2000) ** "Spice Up Your Life" by Spice Girls (1998 - 2000; used as a member of Team XX) ** "Irresistible" by Jessica Simpson (2001 - 2007) ** "Summer Love" by Justin Timberlake (2008 - 2011) Category:1971 births Category:Female Professional Wrestlers Category:Trainers